Vanessa Bates

Writing Studio

Property Donor: The GPT Group & UrbanGrowth NSW

Launched: 14 April 2014

Closed: 10/12/14

about Vanessa Bates

Who are you?
Vanessa Bates, writer for TV, film and radio and award-winning playwright. Plays include: Chipper, Every Second, The Magic Hour, Porn.Cake , Checklist for an Armed Robber and Darling Oscar as well as monologues and short plays for several multi-playwright shows. My work has been produced by most Australian companies. In 2012I won the NSW Premiers Literary Award (Nick Enright Prize) for Porn.Cake. *Chipper * was recently shortlisted for the Patrick White Award. In 2012 I was Playwright in Residence at Griffin Theatre. I am a member of playwrights’ company 7-ON. This year I was Director of the Playwrights Festival for NSW Writers Centre.

Currently, The Magic Hour is touring Australia (including Newcastle’s Civic Theatre on June 24) and new play Every Second is premiering at Darlinghurst’s Eternity Theatre from July 1. Checklist for An Armed Robber will be produced by Newcastle’s Stooged Theatre later this year.

What inspired you to get involved in Renew Newcastle?
A space that could incorporate various writers came up and I jumped to be one of the writers! I think the Renew Newcastle model is a terrific way of getting artists into Newcastle spaces.

What are you doing in your new space?
I’m writing. Just finished a play about Gallipoli for the Ensemble Theatre in Sydney. Newcastle Mall has some great little nooks and crannies that evoke another era and just staring out my window at the old bricks of the building opposite has been inspiring!

Tell us about the space – what was its previous use?
I think it was an office space although there are definite meditation vibes left over from the people who used it before us. It feels calm and tranquil, perfect for a bunch of eclectic writers (so far we have a playwright, a novelist and a poet…)

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